Reserve Components: Opportunities to Improve National Guard and Reserve Policies and Programs
NSIAD-89-27
Published: Nov 17, 1988. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 1988.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) reserve components' management systems and practices to determine how the services could improve management to enhance reserve force capabilities.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress may wish to consider discontinuing the requirements for DOD to separately budget for National Guard and Reserve equipment and instead establish within each service's equipment authorization and appropriation a minimum amount for reserve equipment expenditures. This would provide visibility over reserve equipment expenditures and would better integrate the reserve components into their parent services' planning and budgeting processes. |
Closed – Implemented
|
There has been no further action and it appears that Congress may disregard this requirement. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should take steps to ensure the timely development of force-mix and mission assignment decision guidance that would ensure the consistent consideration of relevant factors pertaining to the decisions. At a minimum, the guidance should address such factors as cost, capability, personnel training, and equipment requirements. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has not developed the requisite guidance, and now indicates that it believes any further guidance would be "redundant and unwarranted."
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should examine alternatives for ensuring that reservists report current addresses and other personal information. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD has several initiatives underway, such as the credit bureau reporting system, and the use of IRR screening and normal contract procedures to improve personal data on reservists.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should report the IRR personnel database deficiencies as a material weakness in the DOD system of internal controls and identify plans and milestones for correcting those deficiencies. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD believes that this is not a material weakness. DOD does not intend to act on this recommendation.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the military services to identify critical skill requirements and target training resources to IRR members with those skills. |
Closed – Implemented
Defense guidance, issued March 29, 1988, requires services to screen IRR, determine skill degradation, and schedule requirement refresher training.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the military services to ensure that unit commanders analyze the mobilization potential of unsatisfactory performers and participants before transferring them to IRR. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD is currently examining alternates for dealing with nonparticipants. This recommendation has been incorporated into a new draft on GAO job 390060.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should establish milestones for the timely completion of a DOD directive providing guidance on the administration of full-time support (FTS) programs. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD published a directive covering administration of the FTS program in 1988.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should monitor the execution of equipment appropriations designated for the reserve components. |
Closed – Implemented
The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) established procedures using the P-1R report, which facilitates monitoring of reserve equipment plans. In addition, DOD directives on reserve component equipment are to be revised.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretaries of the military services to ensure that procurement plans address the availability of mission-essential equipment needed by reserve units, especially when this equipment is unique to the reserve components. |
Closed – Implemented
OSD established procedures using the P-1R report, which facilitates monitoring of reserve equipment plans. In addition, a DOD directive on reserve component equipment, 1225.6, was published in December 1990.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to reexamine the guidance for equipment distribution and redistribution in the Army National Guard and Reserve and to include consideration of unit deployment priorities in the resource allocation process. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army believed current equipment distribution guidance was adequate. However, OSD will continue to monitor Army equipment distribution programs.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that plans for improving the levels of individual military skill qualification include strengthening management control and practices to ensure that reserve component training programs are effectively administered and implemented. |
Closed – Implemented
All services instituted reserve component training improvement programs. OSD will continue to monitor training management controls in Army training programs.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should examine the possible costs and benefits of using FTS personnel for those military skill specialties that are difficult to obtain or maintain in the reserve components. If this approach is found to have merit, an analysis should be made of the utilization of existing FTS personnel before any additional personnel are requested. |
Closed – Not Implemented
This is an area that has been overtaken by events of the Gulf war. The issue of FTS personnel is getting renewed attention within the administration and is expected to be the subject of additional GAO reviews.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretaries of the Army and Navy to develop programs to expedite the retraining of prior service personnel through such practices as establishing and enforcing time limits for completion of requalifications and scheduling required retraining prior to enlisting these personnel in units. |
Closed – Implemented
The services instituted training initiatives to address aspects of individual qualification problems.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should consider establishing a policy selectively requiring active duty for training for IRR members who transferred from the Selected Reserve. This should apply only to IRR members who have not served on active duty other than for initial entry training. |
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD did not concur with this recommendation. Current GAO job 390060 may provide additional support. This recommendation will be reconsidered in the report on job 390060.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to report to him on whether opportunities exist to expedite the integration of reserve component pay systems and the elimination of the Army National Guard's unique accounting and information systems. Also, the Secretary of the Army should report the reserve component mobilization data deficiencies as a material weakness and include plans for correcting the weakness in the fiscal year 1988 report on internal controls. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army Reserve and National Guard implemented the Joint Service Software System in December 1991 to improve the processing of pay.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Navy to develop a single pay system for reserve pay. |
Closed – Implemented
The Navy is implementing personnel and pay system changes on an evolutionary, incremental basis. Full implementation is expected by the end of 1992.
|
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Topics
Armed forces reserve trainingArmed forces reservesCombat readinessDefense capabilitiesDefense contingency planningGeneral management reviewsStaff utilizationManagement information systemsMilitary cost controlMilitary forces